PUBLIC MEETING.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue 341, 25 January 1861, Page 4

PUBLIC MEETING.

One of the largest and most influential meetings we ever recollect to have seen in Auckland wa3 held on Monday evening, January 7, in the Mechanics Institute. The large hall was crammed —and the audience comprising the greater portion of the wealth—both intellectual and material—of the City of Auckland. The occasion of the meeting was the now celebrated letter of Mr. Thos. King, and the comments in the SoutJusm Cross. It was convened by the following placard:— " Public Meeting, this evening, 7th January, at the Mechanics' Institute at seven o'clock. " We, the undersigned, having, as public men, been falsely accused by a- writer in the Southern Cross newspaper, hereby challenge the writer of the leading article of the 4th instant to meet us, and either prove or retract his charges. I " Citizens of Auckland, and all lovers of fair play vrlil, we hope, be present, and we especially invite the attendance of all the members of the late Assembly now in Auckland. " J. Williamson " W. C. Daldt " T. S. Foksaith " It. GIUIIAM." We have in preparation a full report of this meeting but as our reporter could not get all his note 9 prepared and revised in time for this issue we intend to take the earliest opportunity of placing it in the hands of our subscribers, meanwhile they must be content with the following digest of the proceedings. Mr. J. S. Macfarlane was in the chair. Mr. Williamson, after narrating the circumstances that led to his acquaintance with the article and letter in the Southern Cross, then proceeded to distinguish between what was true and what was untrue in Mr. King's letter; explained the motives which led him to initiate the meeting, and repeated with some minuteness the proceedings. Mr. Heale, of all the members present, was the first to misconstrue the object of the meeting ; and he (Mr. Williamson) was obliged to call him to order. No one had broached the idea of a dishonorable peace. No such proposition as that described by Mr. King had been discussed. The resolution itself would prove this. The paper actually read at the meeting had been mislaid, but the rough copy from which he had drawn it was in Mr. Forsaith's hands. When that gentleman applied to him, he had searched and fortunately found the original sketch. It was absurd to say that he had-proposed anything like a deputation from the House, when it was Known that he and Mr. Graham had voted against a Committee of Enquiry being appointed in the House. If this had been a treasonable meeting, why had those present not been prosecuted by the AttorneyGeneral? He believed the whole thing was concocted as an electioneering dodge. He then

proceeded to follow, seriatim, the statement^ contained in the letter signed " Thomas King,' and showed how utterly without foundation they were, so much so that he (Mr. W.) declared that he could hardly believe the letter was the production of My. King's pen. He was listened to with great attention and evidently made an impression on the meeting by the straightforward and unimpassioned manner in which he spoke. Mr. Daldy followed, and at considerable length corroborated all that Mr. Williamson had said. He dwelt with great force upon the overriding influence of the Southern Island members, who, though not seriously affected in life or property by the great issues of the war and native question, invariably swamped the opinions of those who really had everything at stake. He took up several points not alluded to by Mr. Williamson, and showed the fallacy of the charges that had been made.

Mr. Forsaith followed next. Having corroborated all that Mr. Williamson had said, and read the original draft of the resolution, he confined himself principally to the conduct of those who had, from party purposes, adopted and exaggerated the charges made by Mr. King, tie denounced Mr. Russell and his Committee, and Mr. Morrin in particular, (whom he accused of having issued an anonymous placard charging with treason the gentlemen present) as guilty of conduct which was that of a moral assassin. He charged Mr. Heale with complicity with what had appeared in the Southern Cross, and concluded a somewhat lengthy but telling speech by a pointed sarcastic retort upon Mr. Firth, who had on former occasions attacked him.

Mr. Graham spoke next. He followed the general course of the preceding speakers, added a few new facts, read the letter (which appears in our paper of to-day) which he had written at Motutapu when the charges first appeared, before he had seen or conversed with any of the gentlemen implicated with himself, and concluded by denying in the most positive terms the truth of Mr. King's statements. The pointed references to Mr. Morrin and Mr. Heale, of course, called up those gentlemen. Mr. Morrin admitted that he ordered the placards, made some attempts to explain and justify his share. He met with a very different reception, the meeting evidently disapproving of his conduct.

Mr. Heale addressed the meeting at some length. He addmitted the charge of treason to be absurd— but maintained the general correctness of Mr. King's statements; admitted that he had taken that gentleman's letter to the Southern Cross. He contended that the meeting was "a peace meeting," and endeavored to show that Mr. King was correct in his views of the purport of the proposition. Mr. Heale's speech was successively criticized by Messrs. Williamson, Daldy, Forsaith, and Graham, who made some very hard hits and clever points.

Mr. Firth then came forward, and delivered, as usual, a very warlike speech. The Chairman then asked the meeting to signify their opinion upon the question, whether or not the charges had been met and refuted.

It was carried by an overwhelming majority that they had been met and refuted.

Three groans for Mr. Heale were then given, and the meeting separated. Notwithstanding the occasional ebullitions or feeling, and interruption from the noise of cheers and counter cheers, the meeting was extremely orderly and well conducted.